He relocated to the United States in , first living at the home of mentor and friend, Wojtek Fibak. Lendl won another seven tournaments in ; however, he had not won any Grand Slam titles in the early years of his career.

In , Lendl bought his own house in Greenwich, Connecticut. Down two sets to love, and trailing 4—2 in the fourth set, Lendl came back to claim the title 3—6, 2—6, 6—4, 7—5, 7—5.

Lendl lost in the final of the French Open to Mats Wilander. He also won the Masters Grand Prix title for the third time, defeating Boris Becker in straight sets.

He won French Open titles in and , as well as the season-ending and Masters Grand Prix championship titles, where he defeated Becker in straight sets and Wilander in three sets.

Lendl successfully defended his Australian Open title in The only Grand Slam singles title Lendl never managed to win was Wimbledon.

After reaching the semi-finals in and , he reached the final twice, losing in straight sets to Becker in and Pat Cash in He reached the semi-finals in and , but lost to Becker on both occasions.

In , Lendl put in intensive efforts to train and improve his grass court game. He switched to a larger headed racket and skipped the French Open in order to spend more time practising on grass.

Lendl remained near the top of the rankings in He skipped the French Open again to focus on Wimbledon, but lost in the third round against David Wheaton , and was never to win the Wimbledon title.

Lendl was well known for his meticulous and intensive training and physical conditioning regime, and his scientific approach to preparation and playing.

As part of his preparations for the US Open, he hired the same workers who laid the hardcourt surfaces at Flushing Meadows each year to install an exact copy in the grounds of his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Lendl announced his retirement from professional tennis on December 21, , aged 34, due to chronic back pain. Lendl won a career total of 94 ATP singles titles plus 49 other non-ATP tournaments, a total of singles titles and 6 doubles titles, and his career prize money of U.

In , he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. On April 10, , Lendl returned to play in the Caesars Tennis Classic exhibition match in Atlantic City , New Jersey, against his rival from the late s, Mats Wilander , his first tournament since his retirement in He lost the one-set match It was planned to be a one-set, first-to-eight event.

However, McEnroe, leading 6—3, injured his ankle and had to retire from the match. On December 31, , Lendl was appointed to coach Andy Murray.

By the end of , Murray had become world No. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.

Early in his career, Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin.

In the third set, Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs.

Lendl was highly consistent from the baseline, and his groundstroke setup was very complete, with a powerful top-spin backhand and high accuracy from both the forehand and backhand.

Though tall and gangly, he was very fast on the court. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title.

Lendl was also known for his mental strength on court. At the beginning of his professional career, Lendl used Adidas clothing and Kneissl rackets, subsequently changing to Adidas rackets.

Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour, Lendl ended his long-term clothing, shoe, and racket deal with Adidas. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model.

Lendl reached 19 Grand Slam singles finals in his career. He won eight titles, and was a runner-up in Lendl successfully applied for a U. Permanent Resident Card in , hoping to obtain U.

A bill in Congress to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers.

Marika, twins Isabelle and Caroline, Daniela, and Nikola. After finishing his tennis career in , Lendl took up golf, reaching a handicap of 0 and achieving a win on the Celebrity Tour.

Lendl has played in the Gary Player Invitational charity Pro-Am several times, [ citation needed ] and organized a charity competition in called the Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament.

Lendl has a nearly complete collection of posters by Alfons Mucha. The collection was exhibited in Prague in From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.